


May I?

by 1nner_sakura



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Issues, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, GABRIEL FOR WORST DAD OF THE YEAR, Pre-Relationship, ain't no room for plot in this fluff, basically adrien finally gets the hugs he sO DESPERATELY DESERVES, plot? what is a plot?, post-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 12:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8446354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1nner_sakura/pseuds/1nner_sakura
Summary: Marinette always knew that Adrien's capacity for love was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. But that wasn't going to stop her from doing everything in her power to protect his tender heart from the world that sought to destroy it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this fic came into my head first thing this morning and wouldn't let me rest until i finished writing it. i listened to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orJJniWRpRQ and You from the Healer OST on repeat while writing this. 
> 
> also this hasn't been proofread so i apologize for any errors!

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

A blur of black leather tumbling through her trapdoor and a flash of green light were the only warnings she had before Adrien Agreste was flopping face-first on her bed. Marinette heard the soft _fwump_ of his body hitting the mattress and then a long, bony-weary sigh of exhaustion.  
  
“Bad day, hm? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you detransform mid–somersault before. Impressive.” Using her one free hand and the back of the book she was currently reading, Marinette applauded drily.  
  
At the non-committal grunt from her blonde-haired partner, her eyebrows rose.

_Well, that was odd_.

  
Normally Chat would have been preening at even the slightest hint of a compliment. Yet there was nothing but radio silence emitting from the loft. As the silence stretched on, Marinette felt her concern increase. Something was definitely wrong.

  
“Kitty?"

  
She paused uncertainly, not sure whether she should approach him first or allow him to come to her. Adrien could be awfully skittish when it came to personal issues, and Marinette found that the best course of action was usually to allow him to work through his emotions a little bit before she pressed him for details.

  
Judging by his lack of response however, Marinette surmised that whatever was bothering him was something he simply was not ready to talk about. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was that had put her partner in such a bad mood, but she had a pretty good idea; these kinds of moods were usually brought about by _one person_ in particular.

She settled back into the cushions of the chaise, content to wait. Finding the place where she left off, Marinette began to read again, quickly becoming immersed in the richly fantastical world of her novel. Assassin queens, handsome princes, magical powers, and just enough adventure and romance to satisfy her secretly romantic heart – the pages seemed to blur by and she just couldn’t get enough. She’d have to thank Alya for the recommendation next time she saw her.

  
After a while, she began to hear shuffling from the loft, followed by the almost imperceptible sound of feet padding down the stairs with cat-like softness. She looked up as they paused next to her, taking in Adrien’s rumpled state for the first time that evening.

His hair was messier than usual, a clear sign that he was agitated and had been running his fingers through it repeatedly. It hung in his face, partially obscuring his bloodshot eyes and the pained, brittle expression on his face. Marinette’s heart lurched at the sight, and she quickly set her book aside. More important issues needed to be addressed right now than the love lives of fictional characters.

  
She opened her arms to him, saying the one word she knew he needed to hear.

“Come.”

  
His face crumpled along with his body as he all but collapsed into her lap. His arms locked around her shoulders in a vice-like grip as he pressed his face into her neck. Using her own arms to cradle him gently, Marinette rubbed soothing circles on his back as he attempted to calm his shuddering breaths.

  
“It’s okay,” she murmured, stroking his back. “I’m here. You’re okay.”

  
They sat there quietly for what could have been hours or even just minutes, neither willing to pull away and break the moment. The only sounds in the room were those of their quiet breathing and the soft music playing on Marinette’s computer.

  
After a while, she felt Adrien’s arms loosen from around her, taking it to mean that he was ready to talk about whatever it was that was bothering him. Unable to fight her slight disappointment (it wasn’t every day she got to live out her fantasies of cuddling with Adrien, after all), she allowed him to slowly pull away.

  
He shifted back slightly, glancing up at her with guilt-ridden green eyes.

  
“Sorry,” he croaked, clearing his throat. “About all of that. I just – today was… rough. I’d rather not get into it. I didn’t know where else to go, I’m really sor–”

  
Marinette stopped what would undoubtedly have been a slew of apologies by gently pressing her finger to his lips. Adrien’s eyes widened at the unexpected gesture, a slight blush overtaking his face.

   
“Adrien Agreste, don’t you dare apologize for seeking comfort when you’re upset. That is absolutely not a thing to be sorry for and nobody should ever make you feel otherwise.” She gave him as stern of a look as she could muster, fighting off a blush of her own at her rather forward actions. There would be time to freak out about it later. Right now she had a very distraught cat-boy to comfort. “Never apologize for your emotions. Especially not to me.”

Green eyes widened, staring at her as if stunned. Marinette found herself wondering for the thousandth time just what kind of life Adrien had lived up until this point if this was the first time someone had ever told him it was okay to _feel_ things. She also felt her esteem for Gabriel Agreste slip that much lower – he may have been an illustrious, award-winning designer, but he clearly wasn’t in the running for any ‘Father of the Year’ awards any time soon. The biggest travesty of it all was that it was _Adrien_ who had to deal with such a cold and callous father.  
Adrien, who was practically the embodiment of warmth and sunshine and _joy_ ; a boy with a heart so pure, so golden, that he was entrusted with the powers of ultimate destruction and devastation, and it never even occurred to him to use them for anything except good. The boy with such a flagrant disregard for his own life and safety that sometimes Marinette wanted to shake him.   
  
_You are important and needed and precious_ , she wanted to scream. _Don't throw your life away._   
  
But just like she could never ask a leopard (or a ladybug) to change its spots, she knew deep down that his self-sacrificing nature - and his inability to not wear his heart on his sleeve - was something that would never change.

He may have had leather armour to protect him physically, but unfortunately his heart was infinitely more vulnerable. Adrien was unable to do anything except love completely and absolutely – he gave freely of himself and never expected to receive anything in return - which was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. 

The only thing she could do, as his friend and partner, was make sure that she was always there for him. Maybe she couldn’t always be there to protect him, but she’d be damned if she wasn’t the first one there to pick him up when the world proved to be too much for his tender heart.

He gazed at her shyly, his cheeks flushed, evidently overwhelmed and somewhat embarrassed by the intensity of her attention. “O-oh, okay.” He smiled at her then, small and vulnerable but a smile nonetheless, and that sight alone was enough to make her heart sing.

"Thanks, Marinette."

She returned his gaze, smiling with all of the warmth and affection she could possibly muster. To her surprise, this caused Adrien to turn even redder – _and wow she’d honestly never seen anyone turn that colour before my god it should be criminal for someone to be this cute_ – before he suddenly ducked his head back into the crook of her neck.

  
“Adrien?” Marinette was sure he could feel the heat of her blush as it crept up her face and chest.

  
He tensed slightly at the stiffness of her posture, but he didn’t pull away, leaving Marinette to wonder at his abrupt actions.

  
“Would it be okay if we… stayed like this … for just a little bit longer?” His response, quiet and partially muffled by her shirt, crashed through her like a stroke of lightning. “Being close to you makes me feel better.”

_  
Just when I thought it wasn’t possible to fall any further in love with this boy_.

  
Marinette felt her heart do a backflip in her chest, and she prayed that he couldn’t hear it as it suddenly kicked into overdrive. Bringing her arms back around him, she pulled him tightly against her, nestling a hand in the soft hair at the nape of his neck. She felt Adrien sigh as he relaxed into her embrace, felt as his eyelids fluttered shut and his eyelashes brushed against the sensitive skin of her neck; felt as the entire axis of her world shifted, re-orienting itself around him, and them, and this moment.

   
She brushed a soft, chaste kiss to the top of his head, and was rewarded with a quick intake of breath, before she felt his own lips press delicately, hesitantly to the skin beneath her jaw.

   
As her world went up in flames, burning from the place where his lips were still pressed against her skin to the tips of her toes and the ends of her eyelashes, she came to the realization that there was nothing she would not do for Adrien Agreste.

 

For this boy – this sweet, vulnerable, wonderful boy cuddled against her – she’d fight the whole damn world if she had to.  
  


* * *

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i literally don't even know what this is?? but i do know it wouldn't let me sleep until i finished it so here we are. i also don't know why i am only able to write post-reveal/pre-relationship fics but hey what can you do. 
> 
> (also there was a point at the end there where i seriously considered writing in some kissy kissy bits but i chickened out WHOOPS nEXT TIME)
> 
> if you've made it to this point thank u for reading ＼(o￣▽￣o)／


End file.
